Ocular motility and visuo-spatial attention in children with periventricular leukomalacia

Periventricular leukomalucia (PVL) is known to cause visual, motor, and cog nitive impairments varying in their severity. Most studies focused on impai rment at early ages. Little is known about the PVL's later. outcome. Effect s of neural plasticity are for instance insufficiently known to prognose pr ecisely their behavioral outcome. It is even hard to determine the conseque nce of one defect on global development over time. Because of the establish ed neural link between eye motion and space perception, 5-to-9 year-old PVL 's were tested in visual detection, postural control, and space attention t asks. In this paper, discussion will focus on behavioral asymmetry, develop mental outcome, and br;lin injury. (C) 2000 Academic Press.